Aida Kandil, Founder of Moroccan MyTindy Selected For the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women's Program
Aida Kandil, founder and CEO of Moroccan marketplace MyTindy, has been selected as one of 52 women entrepreneurs from the Middle East, Africa, India, and Europe for the 2022 class of “EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women,” as reported by Morocco World News.
The EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women program has produced over 800 alumni from 55 countries since its inception in 2008. Every year, the program selects dozens of women founders of profitable small businesses to provide them with access to professional networks, mentoring programs, and additional resources.
Aida Kanbil and her startup, MyTindy, which connects Moroccan artisans with international customers, are the only Moroccans on the list of 52. MyTindy now employs over 350 local artisans and ships to over 40 countries.
We reported earlier this week that the startup, along with four others, had been chosen to represent Morocco during a five-day working visit to India.
MyTindy was the only female-led Moroccan startup chosen from a pool of 38 applications by Morocco’s Ministry of Digital Transition of Administrative Reforms and the Agency of Digital Development (ADD).
Considering the low representation of female entrepreneurs in Morocco and the MENA region as a whole, MyTindy is frequently the only female-led startup represented in the country’s entrepreneurship-related events.
Aida Kandil Makes Case for More Female Tech Founders in Morocco
Kandil has been at the forefront of campaigning for female representation in the Moroccan startup ecosystem, stating in one of her media interviews, “We need more women to take on the stage and to become startup co-founders or founders,” she told MWN during Plug&Play Batch 3 Expo Day in Casablanca, adding that the lack of female entrepreneurs is causing us to miss out on “a big chunk” of game-changing projects.
“Everyone has an idea,” says the Moroccan entrepreneur, “and it is time to dare.”
Even with state-led and regional efforts to increase female entrepreneurship in MENA and Africa, male-led startups receive the majority of startup funding in the region. In September, women-led startups received only 0.03% of the total funds raised the lowest percentage so far in 2022.
The highest rate recorded this year was 12% ($35 million) in April, which was an exceptional case given that it was fully accredited to the UAE-based platform Millennial Brands. Throughout the year, except April, the percentage of funds raised by female-led entrepreneurs in MENA ranges between less than 1% and less than 2%.